AN all-Malaysian final would not be on the cards tomorrow as mixed doubles pairs Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie both fell in the semi-finals of the 2025 Malaysia Open here today.
Third seeds Tang Jie-Ee Wei failed to upset the top seeds from China, Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping, losing 19-21, 14-21 in 50 minutes at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil.
Husband and wife Soon Huat-Shevon let slip a first-game advantage and went down to Thailand’s new combination Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran 21-17, 12-21, 16-21.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei led 8-3 in the opening game but lost the momentum by giving away easy points to Yan Zhe-Dong Ping, resulting in a 19-21 loss.
In the second game, the world number five ranked Malaysians showed a spark of hope, racing to a 9-6 lead but their opponents quickly fought back, tying the score at 9-9 and ultimately closing out the game 21-14 to extend the head-to-head record to 5-2 in favour of the Chinese.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Tang Jie said they performed quite well in the earlier stage of the game but their rushed play and failure to properly execute an attacking strategy allowed their opponents to take control.
“Like I said, when we were attacking, we didn’t manage to get the points that we needed today. That’s why we were mentally disturbed,” he said.
Ee Wei admitted that they have yet to reach the level of the top pairs and still have much to learn from them.
In the case of Soon Huat-Shevon, their first-game win at 21-17 was nullified by a series of unforced errors in the next two games, particularly through Shevon’s missed returns, causing them to lose 12-21, 16-21 and concede the match in 63 minutes.
Shevon was clearly gutted for being unable to bring cheers to the home fans as they had such a good run into the last four today.
“It’s very sad because in our hearts we 200 per cent wanted to play in the final as it is difficult to get such an opportunity,” she said.
Soon Huat admitted that their lack of speed and power, particularly after winning the first game, took a toll on their performance and allowed Dechapol-Supissara to stage a comeback.
Rio 2016 Olympic Games silver medallists Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying were the last Malaysian mixed doubles duo to play in the final while the last local pair to claim the title were Teh Kew San-Ng Mei Ling in 1965.
